Chinese Orange Chicken made with crispy fried chicken covered in an authentic orange sauce. The ultimate Chinese Orange Chicken Recipe which is way better than take-out.
My kids are always begging me to take them to grab Chinese food. They are obsessed with orange chicken but I am never really sure what’s in it….especially if they get it from a drive-thru. I wanted to create a version at home, made from scratch, with only ingredients I can pronounce. It still has the same incredible flavor they love. It’s definitely a win-win in our home.
It is winter time in Arizona which means that the citrus is ripe for the picking. I am surrounded by neighbors who have a plethora of fresh oranges and lemons hanging from their trees. This is the perfect time of year to whip up orange and lemon dishes especially this Chinese Orange Chicken.
This Chinese Orange Chicken is made with boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces, dredged, and then fried until golden and crispy. The orange sauce is divine! It is a sweet orange sauce made with orange juice, vinegar, garlic, sugar, soy sauce, ginger, red chili flakes, and orange zest. It is both sweet and spicy and full of flavor.
How to make Chinese Orange Chicken at home:
- Start with boneless skinless chicken breast or thighs. Cut into bite-size pieces. Dredge the chicken in whisked eggs and cornstarch/flour mixture until nice and coated. Get these chicken pieces ready for the oil.
- To make your homemade orange sauce, place orange juice, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, and red chili flakes in a small pot and cook over medium-high heat. Add cornstarch and water and cook until thickened. Stir in orange zest.
- Heat oil in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. When frying foods, it is so helpful to use a thermometer. Let the oil heat up to 350 degrees. Once the oil is ready, in batches, cook chicken for about 2 minutes until light golden brown. Repeat with remaining chicken.
- Remove from oil and drain on a paper towel-lined plate.
- Toss fried chicken with the sweet orange sauce. Top with grated orange zest and green onions. Serve immediately.
- 4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts cut into bite-size pieces
- 3 Eggs whisked
- 1/3 cup Cornstarch
- 1/3 cup Flour
- Oil for frying
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- 1 cup Orange Juice
- 1/2 cup Sugar
- 2 Tablespoons Rice Vinegar or White Vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce use tamari for a gluten-free dish
- 1/4 teaspoon Ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder or 2 garlic cloves, finely diced
- 1/2 teaspoon Red Chili Flakes
- Orange Zest from 1 orange
- 1 Tablespoon Cornstarch
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- Green Onions
- Orange Zest
- To make orange sauce:
- In a medium pot, add orange juice, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and red chili flakes. Heat for 3 minutes.
- In a small bowl, whisk 1 Tablespoon of cornstarch with 2 Tablespoons of water to form a paste. Add to orange sauce and whisk together. Continue to cook for 5 minutes, until the mixture begins to thicken. Once the sauce is thickened, remove from heat and add orange zest.
- To make chicken:
- Place flour and cornstarch in a shallow dish or pie plate. Add a pinch of salt. Stir.
- Whisk eggs in shallow dish.
- Dip chicken pieces in egg mixture and then flour mixture. Place on plate.
- Heat 2 -3 inches of oil in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Using a thermometer, watch for it to reach 350 degrees.
- Working in batches, cook several chicken pieces at a time. Cook for 2 - 3 minutes, turning often until golden brown. Place chicken on a paper-towel-lined plate. Repeat.
- Toss chicken with orange sauce. You may reserve some of the sauce to place on rice. Serve it with a sprinkling of green onion and orange zest, if so desired.
This Orange Chicken is going to make you forget take-out. Let me know how it turns out by reaching out on instagram at @modern_honey. Have a great night, my friends!
Excellent recipe! Absolutely delicious!!! Tehe orange sauce is amazing!
did you use store bought oj or fresh squeeze
Hello. When this question comes up for anything (fresh vs not fresh), Always choose fresh when possible.
Where ya gonna get the zest from?
Zest your orange before you squeeze the juice out.
I used simply orange
I also made this recipe and used Tropicana orange juice instead of taking my chances on a store orange not being great.
Truly remarkable. I only used 2 1/2 large chicken breasts, and it seemed to be the right amount for the sauce and four/corn starch dredge. This gave enough sauce to coat all the pieces well, and to drip onto the rice. Winner recipe. Thank you for sharing it. We served it with sliced roasted broccoli.
Thank you for sharing this recipe. I tried it for the first time and it worked. Easy and delicious- definitely my kind of recipe.
Hi,
how many people does this recipe serve? also, how much orange zest should I add? Please answer. thank you for the recipe.
The Orange chicken recipe is out of this world good. It is better than any restaurant chicken. Loved it will make this my favorite recipe.
This is the second time I make this Orange Chicken. Let me just say mmm, mmm, mmmmmmm😋😋😋, Deeelicious. The sauce totally makes it. I followed the recipe exactly, and it didn’t disappoint. It’s tangy, a little spicy and a little sweet, so good. My teens prefer the chicken without sauce, but my husband and I loved it. I will definitely make it again. Thanks for posting it.
Didn’t have the zest or the ginger but it was still delicious.
Superb! Decades ago when I lived in Los Angeles I would order takeout orange peel chicken from the iconic restaurant Genghis Cohen. I’ve craved it recently and this recipe did not disappoint. Absolutely delicious!
I did this today for sunday dinner was awesome I love it
Made this dish last night but with talapia and shrimp as I’m pescatarian. It was absolutely delicious!!!! My sister said it was the best dish I’ve ever made for her and she cleaned her plate!
Did you just put the sauce over the talapia and shrimp?? Did you deep fry the talapia and shrimp??
Fantastic recipe. It was my first time making fried chicken ever and it turned out wonderful. This is a really great recipe not only because it’s delicious, but because the directions are so easy and straight forward to follow for a newbie. Thank you, it’s a keeper!!
Fabulous recipe. Easily adapted to coat my vegan chicken from a local deli. I added chili sauce for a bit more of a kick, but all and all this is a great recipe.
This turned into a fun to make family dish that my picky husband and kids love. It was fun having everyone together taking separate parts of the dish like zesting and squeezing the oranges, soy sauce safari- I know I just bought it, where did it go? And the hubby kicked me away from frying the chicken I don’t know how many times so he could sneak pieces. I printed it out and will be making this again!!
This was delicious! I did sub a couple things, one intentional one on accident. I used chicken thighs instead of breasts (oops, but still yummy!) and instead of frying the chicken in oil I fried it in the air fryer! Very tasty and will definitely make again!
what temp and how long did you cook in the air fryer?
Thinking of buying an air fryer. Did the chicken come out crispy? Is there a brand of air fryers you’d recommend? Thank you!
This is truly one of the best recipes I have come across. I didn’t change anything, used a good quality orange juice and wow….just like the best Chinese restaurant. Thank you!!!
Soy sauce…light or dark?
Hello! I am going to make this week. Did you use fresh grated ginger or dried?
I was wondering the same thing. I rarely use ginger so I didn’t want to chance using the wrong one and make it unpalatable.
Which did you other cooks use?
I keep grated ginger (and garlic) in the freezer – that way I always have it on hand for a recipe. Don’t think dried ginger would work well in this recipe.
Omg omg omg!!! Me and my husband love orange chicken and this is the best we have ever had!!! Wow what a recipe. I extremely recommend 🙂 thank you for this recipe.
Never in a million years have I ever thought to make my own Chinese at home. This recipe was amazing! I used one large chicken breast and coated the chicken with double dipped egg and flour. Yummy is all that I can say. Definitely a staple for me moving forward. I think I will use sauteed shrimp and chicken next time.
this was really tasty! takes a lot longer than the recipe says though, took me about 45 minutes.
Another winner! We used half the vinegar, a little less orange juice b/c we ran out. & We made extra sauce. 5 star reviews from the whole family.
Orange chicken is always my go to when ordering takeout. While I wasn’t able to get a good crisp with this batter, the sauce most definitely made up for that. Tucking this one away for next time I’m craving some orange chicken. Much better than takeout and the freshness of the oranges really made the dish pop. Thank you.
Delicious! Can the sauce be frozen?
Just made this and it was fantastic!!!! The fresh squeezed orange juice and zest made this so flavorful!!! This was my first time making Orange Chicken but it will not be my last time making it!!!!
Delicious! Best orange chicken I’ve ever had. Be prepared to spend a couple hours on it though.
Amazing! My family, loves it! Way better than Chinese ” fast food” I’ve ever had!
Can this be made gluten free?
I just have a question, can I make this without cutting the chicken? I wanna make it with full chicken breast without making the pieces smaller
Oh gosh does anyone have any recommendations for what sort of oil to use for the frying? Cooking this for the boys later in the week but I’d love to test it beforehand and I’m a bit new to cooking (more of a baker myself) so I’d hate to use the wrong sort of oil! Would olive oil work alright?
I would use vegetable/sunflower/rapeseed oil. Olive oil wouldn’t get hot enough without burning, and might have too strong a flavour.
I modified things a bit, like adding in some frozen orange juice flavor to turn up the volume and some other tweaks, but I have to say the overall texture of the chicken with this thin light breading is great.
My favorite Chinese restaurant back in Phoenix (I live in Detroit now) made orange chicken like Ive never seen anywhere else. It was thinly sliced and the breading was ultra thin and did not completely cover the chicken.
This is not yet better or as good as those, but its quickly closing in.
Next time Im going to try thin sliced chicken and rather then dip the chicken in Im going to sift it over the chicken for a more light coating.
I might cut out some of the flour and up the corn starch as Ive seen recipes that use corn starch only. Im still experimenting but this recipe is quite good even as it is and has set me on the right track to get what I want.
My 3 boys loved the chicken as well. 🙂
Good job with the recipe!
Yeah its definitely a rating 5…
I cut back on the sugar using 1/4 cup it was plenty sweet for us. Also, hubby doesn’t like a lot of heat so only used 1/4 tsp of the pepper flakes- it was delish!
I love this recipe! I’ve made it several times..easy and sooo much flavor! I have to double the sauce recipe, my family devours it!
I can’t have a lot of fried foods. Can this be made in an air fryer
Great recipe, used tapiocia starch instead of cornstarch and was still delicious!
Excellent recipe that absolutely is much better than most take out.
Only addition was I added and sauteed sliced red peppea few minutes before serving
It was absolutely amazing . We have a big family so I had to 4x the recipe. A bit spicy , but if you don’t want as much just dial down on the pepper flakes. Absolutely fantastic though !
An instant family favorite! Simple to make and easy to increase servings if you have a big group.